Estimated reading time: 6 minute(s)
by Willie Muhammad
Vanity is also a magnet for several other unattractive human qualities, one of which is arrogance. Both of these qualities are evidence of a delusional view of self. A delusional view of self impacts the way one sees reality, their place in the world and others. Here is a short story that illustrates the point I am attempting to make. The story is called, “The Window.”
A young couple moved into a neighborhood. The next morning, while they were eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hang her recently washed clothes on the line. “That laundry is not clean,” said the young woman as she looked out the window, “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make judgmental comments.
About one month later, the young woman was surprised to see her neighbor now had a nice clean batch of laundry on the line. She turned to her husband and said, “Look! She finally has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her how to?” The husband humbly said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”
I hoped you laughed, I sure did when I first read this story. The lesson the story is teaching that what we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window (heart) through which we look. Vanity dirties the heart. Not the physical heart but the very essence of the human being. Vanity is synonymous with the word ego. I read once where a spiritual teacher said that E-G-O stands for “edging God out.” If God is edged out, who takes His place? The devil, that’s who. Where ever the devil lives life as defined by God no longer exists. Don’t believe me spell the word DEVIL backwards and see what happened when Adam obeyed the devil rather than God.
I pray you find this article beneficial.
(Willie Muhammad serves as the Student Minister at Muhammad Mosque No. 46 in New Orleans. Follow Twitter @BroWM46)Â
